'Beloved' 30-Year-Old Restaurant Chain Plans 30–35 Closures Across the U.S. in 2026

Over the last several months, the restaurant industry has been severely struggling in America due to a wide array of factors. In December 2025, a CNBC article detailed the major chains that shut down locations that year, including Starbucks, Wendy's, Denny's, Jack in the Box, Bahama Breeze, Hardee’s, Papa John's, and Outback Steakhouse.

That trend will continue in 2026 as a notable company has revealed plans to shut down many of its restaurants in America during the coming months.

Noodles & Company to Close Up to 35 Locations Nationwide in 2026

On January 12, 2026, Noodles & Company released its preliminary revenue results for the fourth quarter of 2025. The first page of that document contained a striking sentence that revealed that the company will be closing several locations throughout 2026. "In 2026, the Company expects to close an additional 30 to 35 restaurants." While that is a lot of locations that will cease operation, the document showed it is only a fraction of the company's "more than 400 restaurants." CNBC's coverage of chain restaurant shutdowns stated that Noodles & Company closed 20 locations in 2024 and 29 in 2025.

Those plans appear to be working since sales have been on the rise at the remaining locations. “Delivering significant positive comparable sales growth of over 7% for our company-owned restaurants in the fourth quarter builds on a trend of 4% sales growth in the third quarter, reflecting the strong momentum taking hold at Noodles & Company." The revenue results continued, “Our fourth quarter results reinforce that when we concentrate our resources on restaurants with the strongest opportunity to perform, Noodles can drive meaningful top-line growth. That performance gives us added confidence as we continue to refine our portfolio in 2026."

Earlier in November 2025, Noodles & Company's CEO, Joe Christina, addressed the motivation behind the then ongoing shutdowns. "We are continuing to close underperforming restaurants and benefiting from the transfer of approximately a third of their sales to nearby profitable locations. All of this is driving margin and Adjusted EBITDA improvement, guest enthusiasm and strengthening our relevance.”

Noodles & Company Remains a 'Beloved' Chain That Gets Positive Reviews

While reporting on Noodles & Company in January 2026, AOL referred to the restaurant chain as a "beloved brand." Considering that the company has held grand openings more than 400 times in states across America, that label remains accurate despite the recent closures.

Noodles & Company has also continued to craft new dishes that have been embraced. One example of that is Food Republic calling Noodles & Company Chili Garlic Ramen dish "as tasty as it sounds." The dish was also described as "super garlicky and buttery" in a way the outlet's reviewers "loved." Most notably, the product was praised for having "the kind of flavor that any ramen-lover could fall for."